Bottle breaker



, June 1.951 H. H. SMITH 2,555,612

BOTTLE BREAKER Filed Oct. 24, 1950 IN VEN TOR.

Patented June 5, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 12 Claims.

This invention relates to a liquor bottle breaker and more particularly to a device for destroying the empty liquor bottle as is required by many laws or ordinances.

Heretofore the bar tender or other person in a commercial establishment breaks the bottle with a hammer while holding it over a box but there was a disadvantage of injury in flying glass and furthermore this method was not fully effective inproperly destroying the bottle.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a simple bottle breaking device within which the bottle is completely enclosed during breaking thereof and from which the broken parts of the bottle will descend by gravity into a storage container.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a simple bottle breaker construction which is sturdy, inexpensive to manufacture and fully efiective for the intended purpose.

These and other objects will be seen from the following specification and claims in conjunction with the appended drawing in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the present bottle breaker.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section illustrating the variation in the constructionpf the bottle breaker; and

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

It will .be understood that the above drawing illustrates merely a preferred embodiment of the invention and that other embodiments are contemplated within the scope of the claims hereafter set out.

Referring to the drawing the bottle breaker includes an upright standard ll of rectangular cross section preferably, upon which is mounted and secured the bottle breaker housing which is generally of U-shape in cross section as illus trated in Fig. 3.

Said housing includes spaced upright elongated side walls I2 which are joined and secured in overlapping relation to the opposite side walls of standard I l as by the spaced screws I3. The upper open end of said housing includes the cover 14 which is hinged thereto as at IE to provide access to the interior thereof for insertion of the empty bottle to be destroyed.

Said housing has an elongated interior space 1 6 bounded by said side walls I2 and by the front wall I! as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

Elongated bracket plate [8 is arranged in paralle1 spaced relation to said front wall and has a pair of inwardly extending outturned leg elements I9 which are secured to the front wall ll of said housing as by the screws or bolts 20 shown in Fig. 2.

Transverse bottle supporting pin 2| with ena g head 22 upon it o te end l a xtends through corresponding openings in bracket I8 and said front wall and projects inwardly substantially across the openin L6 within said housing centrally thereof as illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. It is thus apparent that the bottle 2E5 when inserted within said housing will be centrally supported upon pin 2] as illustrated in Fig.

Washer 23 is suitably secured to pin 2;! upon the outside of the housing front wall 11 and a coiled spring 24 is positioned around said pin and interposed between bracket 18 and said front wall whereby, if desired, the pin may be manually projected outwardly .on manual application to the handle 22, and against the action of said spring to thus permit any portion of the broken bottle to drop downwardly through the lower open end of said housing.

Bottle 25 and its neck 26 is positioned within housing l2l l-ancl the cover Misclosed as shown in Fig. 2 so as 'tobe broken in a manner and by the structure now described. Retractable shaft 21 is arranged at right angles to the longitudinal axis of said housing and is slidably positioned through corresponding openings in the bracket I8 and said front wall 1"! whereby the inner end of said shaft is positioned closely adjacent the central portion of the empty bottle 25 as shown in Fig. 2.

Said shaft has ahead 28 upon its outer endand a coiled spring 29 is positioned upon said shaft between said head and said bracket whereby upon an inward forceful blow to the shaft head 28, such as by a hammer, the inner end of shaft 21 will be projected inwardly for breaking engagement with the bottle and by said spring will be returned automatically to the position shown in Fig. 2.

A second bottle neck breakingshaft 3 0 with head 3| is similarly slidably positioned through corresponding openings insaid bracket and said front wall for operative breaking engagement .matically returningethe same to its initial posiplated however that the clipmight be employed to merely engage the neck 26 of the bottle if desired.

In operation the upper head 3| would first be struck by a hammer to break off the neck 26 from the bottle and immediately thereafter the head 28 would be struck a blow to break the balance of the bottle body after which the broken pieces of glass would drop to the lower open end of said housing down into the box 33', which as in Fig. 1 shows a plurality of broken pieces of glass 34' therein.

In the event some of the pieces of broken glass do not fall past the pin 2|, then said pin may be manually retracted by pulling on its head 22 after which said pin willreturn to its initial position as shown in Fig. 2 under the action of coiled spring 24.

A variation of the present invention is shown 'in Figs. 4 and which includes upright rectangularly shaped in cross section standard 35 and the transversely U-shaped flexible housing 36 preferably constructed of rubber and which includes spaced substantially upright side walls 31. The housing 36-41 may be cut from a vehicle tire casing so as to provide the arcuate front wall portion 36 in conjunction withthe inwardly extending side walls .31 which overlap portions of standard 35 and which side walls are pivotally joined to saidstandard at their lower ends as by the screws or bolts. 38 arranged on opposite sides of said standard.

Housing 36 with lower open end 39 has an arcuate inturned upwardly extending top portion 46 which is slotted at 41 to permit portions of the side walls 3! to extend over the sides of standard 35.1 Housing 36 pivotally mounted at 38 at its lower end is normally and resiliently retained in the upright bottle enclosingposition shownin Fig. 4 by means of the coiled springs 42 arranged on opposit e sides of said housing with their upper ends joined at 43 to said standard and with their respective lower ends joined to opposite sides of said housing at points 44 by a suitable rivet or bolt.

Centrally arranged bottle supporting pin 45 is positioned within the lower end of housing 36 with the inner end of said pin projected into the central portion of the front face of standard 35 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5. The bottle 46 shown indash lines and with the neck portion 41 is positioned within housing 36 which is first manually pivoted outwardly against the tension of springs 42 and thereafter released to assume the bottle breaking position shown in Fig. 4. The lower bottle breaking bolt 48 with head 49 at one end is laterally projected through a suitable In operation it is apparent that ahammer blow upon the head 52 of said bottle would break the same from the body of said bottle and a second hammer blow to the shaft head 49 will break up the body of said bottle and the pieces will fall downwardly by gravity through the opening 39 and down into a suitable storage container such as container 33 shown in Fig. 1.

Reinforcing links 54 are arranged upon the interior of said housing as illustrated in Fig.4 and respectively interconnect pivotal connections 38 on the standard and the spring connections 44 I on the housing. Similar upright stiifeners 55 are employed upon opposite interior sides of said housing'adjacent the outer ends of side walls 31 with the lower ends of said links joined at points 38 and with their upper ends joined to interior side wall portions asat points 56. It is contemplated however that the links 54 and 55 could be omitted if desired.

There is also provided a formed substantially U-shaped bottle neck engaging clip 51 which is centrally secured as at 58 to the frontwall of standard 35 so as to retain the bottlein the upright position shown during the breaking opera tion. 7 r r V By virtue of the; inherent resiliency of housing 36 it is apparent that said housing will cause an automatic return movement of the bottle break ing shafts 48 and 51 after their receipt of a hammer blow. Thus in this construction no springs are required. Furthermore by employing the arcuate top surface portion 40 and by'pivotally mounting the lower end of said housing to the standard a separately hinged cover is omitted.

Having described my invention, reference should now be had to the claims which follow for determining the scope thereof I claim: i

V l. A bottle breaker comprising an upright standard, a hollow open ended elongated housing mounted in upright position upon said standard and having a front wall, a transverse bottle supporting pin projecting through a central portion of said front wall adjacent its lower end, and a retractable shaft in parallel spaced relation to said pin and slidably projecting through said front wall for operative breaking engagement with a bottle supported within said housing upon application of an exterior longitudinal blow to said shaft.

2. A bottle breaker comprising ;an upright standard, a hollow open ended elongated housing mounted in upright position upon said standard and having a front wall, a'transverse bottle supporting pin projecting through a central portion of said front wall adjacent its lower end, a retractable shaft in parallel spaced relation to said pin and slidably projecting through said front wall for operative breaking engagement with a bottle supported within said housing upon application of an exterior longitudinal blow to said shaft, a hinged cover at the upper end of said housing, a head on said shaft, and a compressible shaft retracting spring mounted on said shaft interposed between said head and said front wall.

3. A bottle breaker comprising an upright standard, a hollow open ended elongated housing :mounted in upright position upon'said standard and having a front wall, a transverse bottle supporting pin projecting through a central portion of said front wall adjacent its lower end, a pair of longitudinally spaced retractable shafts in parallel spaced relation to said pin and slidably projecting through said front Wall for operative I breaking engagement with portions" of a: bottle Supported within said housing u on application of an exterior blow to said shafts, a hinged cover at the upper end of said housing, heads upon the outer ends of said shafts and compressible shaft retracting springs mounted on said shafts interposed between said head-andsaid front wall.

4. A bottle breaker comprising an upright standard, a hollow open ended elongated housing mounted in upright position upon said standard and having a front Wall, an elongated bracket spaced from said front wall and having formed end portions joined thereto, a transverse bottle supporting pin slidably extending through said bracket and a central portion of said front wall adjacent its lower end, and a retractable shaft in parallel spaced relation to said pin slidably projecting through said bracket and front wall for operative breaking engagement with the bottle supported within said housing upon application of an exterior blow to said shaft.

5. A bottle breaker comprising an upright standard, a hollow open ended elongated housing mounted in upright position upon said standard and having a front wall, an elongated bracket spaced from said front wall and having formed end portions joined thereto, a transverse bottle supporting pin slidably extending through said bracket and a central portion of said front wall adjacent its lower end, a retractable shaft in parallel spaced relation to said pin slidably projecting through said bracket and front wall for operative breaking engagement with the bottle supported within said housing upon application of an exterior blow to said shaft, a head on said shaft, and a compressible shaft retracting spring.

on said shaft interposed between said head and said bracket.

6. A bottle breaker comprising an upright standard, a hollow open ended elongated housing mounted in upright position upon said standard and having a front wall, an elongated bracket spaced from said front wall and having formed end portions joined thereto, a transverse bottle supporting pin slidably extending through said bracket and a central portion of said front wall adjacent its lower end, and a pair of longitudinally spaced retractable shafts in parallel spaced relation to said pin slidably projecting through said bracket and front wall for operative breaking engagement with the bottlesupported within said housing upon application of an exterior blow to said shafts, a head on said shafts, and a compressible shaft retracting spring on each shaft interposed between its head and said bracket.

7. A bottle breaker comprising an upright standard, a hollow open ended elongated housing mounted in upright position upon said standard and having a front wall, an elongated bracket spaced from said front wall and having formed end portions joined thereto, a transverse bottle supporting pin slidably extending through said bracket and a central portion of said front wall adjacent its lower end, a retractable shaft in parallel spaced relation to said pin slidably projecting through said bracket and front wall for operative breaking engagement with the bottle supported within said housing upon application of an exterior blow to said shaft, a head on said shaft, a, compressible shaft retracting spring on said shaft interposed between said head and said bracket, a cover on the upper end of said housing and a bottle engaging clip within said housing and secured centrally to the inner surface of said front wall.

8. A bottle breaker comprising an upright standard, a hollow open ended elongated. housing mounted in uprightposition upon said standard and having a front wall, an elongated bracket spaced from said front wall and having formed end portions joined thereto, a transverse bottle supporting pin slidably extending through said bracket and a central portion of said front wall .adjacentits, lower end, a retractable shaft in parallel spaced relation to said .pin slidablyprojecting through said bracket and front wall for operative breaking engagement with the bottle supported within said housing upon application of an exterior blow to said shaft, a, stop secured upon said pin adjacent said front wall, and a coiled spring on said pin between said stop and said bracket.

9. A bottle breaker comprising an upright standard, a hollow flexible housing longitudinally arcuate and of U shape in cross section and open at its lower end pivoted in upright position upon said standard, and with the opposed upright inner edges of the side walls of said housing extending over opposite sides of said standard, and coiled springs upon opposite sides of said. housing secured at their one ends to said standard and at their opposite ends to said housing for maintaining the same in an upright position, a transverse bottle supporting pin on said standard, and a headed shaft parallel to said pin projecting through said housing for operative breaking engagement with a bottle in said housing.

10. A bottle breaker comprising an upright standard, a hollow flexible housing longitudinally arcuated and of U shape in cross section and open at its lower end pivoted at its lower end upon said standard, and with the opposed upright inner edges of the side walls of said housing extending over opposite sides of said standard, coiled springs upon opposite sides of said housing secured at their one ends to said standard and at their opposite ends to said housing for maintaining the same in an upright position, a transverse bottle supporting pin on said standard, and a headed shaft parallel to said pin projecting through said housing for operative breaking engagement with a bottle in said housing, and a bottle engaging clip within said housing centrally secured to said standard.

11. A bottle breaker comprising an upright standard, a hollow flexible housing longitudinally arcuate and of U shape in cross section and open at its lower end pivoted at its lower end upon said standard, and with the opposed upright inner edges of the side walls of said housing extending over opposite sides of said standard coiled springs upon opposite sides of said housing secured at their one ends to said standard and at their opposite ends to said housing for maintaining the same in an upright position, a transverse bottle supporting pin on said standard, and a pair of longitudinally spaced headed shafts parallel to said pin projecting inwardly through said housing with their inner ends adapted for operative breaking engagement with a bottle supported upon said pin within said housing, and with their heads engageable with the outer surface of said housing, and a bottle securing clip within said housing centrally secured to said standard.

12. A bottle breaker comprising a standard, a hollow flexible housing longitudinally arcuate and of U shape in cross section pivoted at one end upon said standard, and ':with the opposed edges of the side walls of said housing extending adjacent the opposite sides of said standard, a transverse bottle supporting pin on said standard, and a headed shaft projecting through said housing for operative breaking engagement with a bottle in said housing upon application of an exterior longitudinal blow to said shaft.

HOMER H. SMITH.

REFERENCES CITED Number UNITED STATES PATENTS 7 Name Date Lewis July 20, 1886 Haller May 8, 1917 Loistrand Nov. 1, 1938 Legg Nov. 15, 1938 Burgess Sept. 12, 1939 

